Danica Patrick a NASCAR Hall of Famer? Um, no – Orlando Sentinel
Is Danica Patrick a NASCAR Hall of Famer?
We’ll pause while as you spit out your coffee.
Steven Cole Smith of motorsport.com recently wrote a piece titled: “Why Danica Patrick will make the NASCAR Hall of Fame,” suggesting that she indeed belongs.
No need to dissect the piece, word by word, but here is a key paragraph that destroys his premise:
“And while she may not yet have compiled sheer statistics that would send her to the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the fact that she has been the first female driver to prove that a woman – particularly a woman that isn’t built like a roller derby jammer – can survive season after season in what has always been, and still is, a man’s sport.”
Maybe he never heard of Janet Guthrie. She was the first woman to qualify and compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500. Danica would become the second, therefore, she didn’t break any barriers.
Guthrie also isn’t built like a roller derby jammer, a degrading cheap shot at women. Male or female, one doesn’t have to be built like a like a roller derby jammer to compete in NASCAR.
And Danica has survived “season after season” because she is a marketing queen. Big time. And she has done so because she competes for one of the super-powers in the business, Stewart-Haas Racing, that provides her with the best equipment, technical support and resources possible.
Danica has been great for NASCAR. She has brought a new demographic into the sport, younger, many of them female. And she is finally showing signs of competitive consistency, ranking 19th in the standings.
But still, the Hall of Fame is about excellence in sport, and not a participation medal thing.
But thanks for playing.
George Diaz can be reached at gdiaz@orlandosentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgediaz
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